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TELEVISION REVIEW; Sipowicz Cooks Meatloaf? This Sure Is a New Season

It's quite a sight. Detective Andy Sipowicz -- alcoholic, racist, explosively temperamental and perpetually gruff -- making meatloaf and mashed potatoes for his little boy, explaining over dinner that his job is about helping people, accepting a kiss from his son that almost takes his breath away with unexpressed emotion.

''N.Y.P.D. Blue'' begins its new season tonight on ABC. And that scene with Sipowicz (Dennis Franz) is proof enough that the six-and-a-half-year-old series is still solid, still intelligent and still undeniably worth watching, even for those who find more typical police shows a waste of time. And that it deserves to keep its time slot (Tuesday nights at 10), which the network almost gave away to a new romantic drama series, ''Once and Again.'' It was only after Steven Bochco, co-creator of ''N.Y.P.D. Blue,'' spoke up, publicly accusing ABC of disloyalty, that the rescheduling plans were shelved.

Thank goodness, because it would be a shame for loyal fans to wander away now. The character development of Sipowicz, whose ex-wife was shot to death last season, may be the most dramatic change in store. But it's only one of the show's current assets.

Sipowicz's very young new partner, Sorenson (Rick Schroder, who surprised everyone with his on-screen power when he joined the cast last season after the departure of Jimmy Smits), would seem to have a romance in his future. Tonight's season premiere ends with a steamy love scene between Sorenson and a fellow officer, Mary Franco (Sherri Rappaport). In the tradition of this series, which has always been known for testing the boundaries of network censorship, it involves partial nudity.

Kirkendall (Andrea Thompson) has a private-life subplot going on, too, but the strength of ''N.Y.P.D. Blue'' is the balance between its soap opera appeal and its aggressively gritty portrayal of police work. Tonight's episode involves two officers who report finding a beating victim and acknowledge that they slapped him around a little, too. (''We gave him a minor tuneup.'') The question becomes whether the policemen themselves administered the entire beating and fabricated the rest of the story. ''I did what was appropriate,'' one of the two says. ''These are our streets.''

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In next week's episode Kirkendall and Russell (Kim Delaney) investigate the death of a baby found in a Dumpster. The suspects include a transsexual prostitute, who had promised to watch the child, and the child's mother, a crack-addicted prostitute who said she'd be gone for three hours and hadn't returned after four days. On ''N.Y.P.D. Blue'' the suspects, the Police Department employees, even the witnesses are written and acted as believably complicated people.

This may be the last year in which Mr. Bochco and David Milch, the show's other co-creator, will be closely involved with it. That's all the more reason to pay attention to the season that has just begun.

N.Y.P.D. BLUE

Loogie Nights

ABC, tonight at 10

(Channel 7 in New York)

Created by Steven Bochco and David Milch; Steven Bochco, David Milch, Mark Tinker and Bill Clark, executive producers; directed by Mark Tinker; written by Matt Olmstead from a story by David Milch and Bill Clark. A Steven Bochco Production.

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A version of this review appears in print on January 11, 2000, on Page E00005 of the National edition with the headline: TELEVISION REVIEW; Sipowicz Cooks Meatloaf? This Sure Is a New Season. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe